Close the Science Center, except the Cinedome and put on more laser music shows. You can use the remaining space for rental/banquets etc.
But Science Cetner ticket sales don’t cover costs there. Its net income was a negative $115,570 in 2008, but that was better than officials had expected when they budgeted for a negative $121,752.
Why would you budget a negative? Sure, it would make sense at the Arts Center that doesn’t charge an admission, but they didn’t even lose that much.
Admission to the six galleries of changing shows is free. It cost the Pavilion $312,765 to run the Visual Art Center in 2008, not as much as the $315,692 it had budgeted for the expenses. Revenues were $260,000, about $6,000 less than budgeted.
But one still asks, where is all the revenue and subsidy money going? I would bet salaries. You have to realize that the Pavilion management company doesn’t have to spend one stinkin’ penny on building upgrades and remodels, that money comes from the city’s capital improvement fund. Nice, huh?
I always love when we’re supposed to react positively to a money pit because the loss wasn’t as high as expected…even though the difference is only around 5%.
I laughed at that to. But the real money pit is salaries (notice, not in the story).
Don’t close it. Free your minds and your (and many new customers) ass(es) will follow.
The Pavillion should take that space and partner with the SD Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Make half of it museum space with interactive exhibits that explore & explain the history of music, along with highlighting the impact of the local players in the industry.
Take the rest of the space and make it a smaller version of the Experience Music Project in Seattle. Have the hands on, computer-aided tutorial of the various instruments, the creative process, & the recording and producing process for both music & video. Make it a Rock Band on steroids and with real instruments. Think of how many people play that and would want to take a crack at the real thing?
Charge a small admission fee for each and discount for a 2 for 1 pass. Like Great Bear, offer season passes to it.
The R&R Hall of Fame would be a nice tie in. They could do occasional shows for Inductee celebrations and do one or two big shows a year for a fundraiser.
Sure, it would cost some $$ to get it going, but you’d have something uniqie to the area that would be a nice & profitable draw for many years to come.
http://www.empsfm.org/
It was meant to become King Dave’s tomb?
Seriously, not that many options. It could be profitable as a mausoleum.
I was at the science center this past weekend. The reason people don’t go is that the place is in disrepair. Fix and updated the exhibits.
I agree partially with Sy. If they are not going to open the place at night so kids and parents can go there, turn it into a museum. I just don’t get this mentality that the place should purposely lose money. That makes sense at in the VAC since it doesn’t have an admission. But when you charge an admission you should be at least breaking even.
I have often said, enough is enough already. Hire a new management company.